Co-editors: Seán Mac Mathúna • John Heathcote
Consulting editor: Themistocles Hoetis
Field Correspondent: Allen Hougland
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site: The COINTELPRO Papers COINTELPRO:
FBI Activities in Hollywood Cointelpro
Revisited - Spying & Disruption Armies
of Repression: The FBI, COINTELPRO and Far Right Vigilante
Networks Long-time readers of this
writer will recall the claim that all wars have an economic
interest, and are fought for economic reasons or resources.
Is this so with Afghanistan? On its face, most would not
agree. But, check this out. Would you believe that
important business interests began discussing the removal of
the Taliban, years ago? Or that wealthy oil interests have
been plotting on ways to re-organize the Central Asian
region, in order to exploit the abundant supplies of oil
that are in the Caspian Sea area? Or that the area is also
abundant in natural gas reserves? In early 1998, a major oil
executive for the Unocal Corporation, a Mr. John J. Maresca,
Vice-President of the company, gave a briefing to a House
subcommittee on International Relations. In his remarks, we
see the reasons for U.S. industrial interest in the area --
a pipeline: Unocal noted that other
industrial powers are interested in the proposed oil
pipeline, including Japan. Their interests are their own ---
their national, and international economies. Did Unocal
negotiate with the now-accursed Taliban? Well, they
say they haven't, but they also say that they have. Again,
the words of Vice-President Maresca are important
indications of how Unocal did its business:
In the halls of government, and
in the meeting places of big business, powerful people carve
up the world according to their own interests. Wars are
declared, and thousands are slain, for the enrichment and
the well-being of the few. War is more than the instrument
of big business; it is big business. Written 13th January 2002.
© 2002, Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia
Abu-Jamal: On December 2nd 2001, the city council of
Paris voted to make Mumia an honorary citizen of the
city
One obvious
potential route south would be across Iran. However, this
option is foreclosed for American companies because of
U.S. sanctions legislation. The only other possible route
option is across Afghanistan, which has its own unique
challenges. The country has been involved in bitter
warfare for almost two decades. The territory across
which the pipeline would extend is controlled by most
other nations. From the outset, we have made it clear
that construction of our proposed pipeline cannot begin
until a recognized government is in place that has the
confidence of governments, lenders, and our company.
["A New Silk Road: Proposed Petroleum Pipeline in
Afghanistan", Monthly Review, Dec. 2001, pp.
32-3]
Although Unocal has
not negotiated with any one group, and does not favor any
group, we have had contacts with and briefings for all of
them. We know that the different factions in Afghanistan
understand the importance of the pipeline project for
their country, and have expressed their support of it.
[p. 33]